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The pitbull cruelly dumped at a Tennessee shelter for being “gay” has found a new loving home.

The saga started earlier this week, when a pet owner saw his white pitbull mix mount another male dog. He concluded the dog was homosexual, and took him straight to the overcrowded Jackson Rabies Control Animal Shelter on Tuesday.

The pitbull was scheduled to be put down at 1 p.m. Thursday, but a compassionate group called Jackson TN Euthaniasia took action, posting a desperate message on Facebook asking for help in saving his life.

“This guy was signed over to RC, not bc he’s mean or bc he tears things up, but because… His owner says he’s gay! He hunched another male dog so his owner threw him away bc he refuses to have a “gay” dog! Even if that weren’t the most assinine thing I’ve ever heard, its still discrimination! Don’t let this gorgeous dog die bc his owner is ignorant of normal dog behavior! He’s in kennel 10L and he WILL be put down tomorrow bc there is no room at the inn!”

Luckily the post attracted lots of attention — it’s been shared over 5,000 times and liked by almost 1,000 people. Hundreds called into the shelter offering to adopt the abandoned pup (shown in a picture on Facebook staring forlornly and wagging his tail). In the end, he went to a veterinary technician from Jackson called Stephanie Fryns, who re-named him Elton. Fryns, who already has four doggie companions, says she had seen Elton on the shelter’s website before his story went viral, and had planned to adopt him. He is “pretty friendly so far,” she told ABCNews.com. “He’s pretty scared of everything, which is understandable. But he loved the car ride.”

Experts (and anyone who’s ever been around dogs) say that Elton’s “humping” behavior is perfectly normal. “In most common interactions among canines it has nothing to do with sex,” veterinarian Stanley Coren wrote in Psychology Today, “but a lot to do with social dominance.”

But even if it was homosexual behavior, that’s not entirely rare in the animal kingdom. Penguins, albatrosses, dolphins and bonobos of the same gender have been known to do everything from having sex to raising eggs together, according to ABC News.

Whatever the case, Elton has made a lucky escape from his former owner. Now he can hump away with abandon. And if his new owner really wants to spoil him, she can always get him a “hotdoll” — the first sex doll for dogs.

If you live near Tennessee and want to help a dog, the shelter has plenty more, some of whome face euthanasia as early as Friday. Just head on over to their Facebook page to behold the adorable pictures.